''The New York Times'' Spelling Bee, or simply the ''Spelling Bee'', is a

word game Word games (also called word game puzzles or word search games) are spoken, board, or video games often designed to test ability with language or to explore its properties. Word games are generally used as a source of entertainment, but can add ...

distributed in print and electronic format by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. Created by Frank Longo, the game debuted in a weekly print format in 2014, with a digital daily version with an altered scoring system launching on May 9, 2018.

Gameplay

The game presents players with a grid of 7 letters arrayed in a

honeycomb structure Honeycomb structures are natural or man-made Structure, structures that have the geometry of a honeycomb to allow the minimization of the amount of used material to reach minimal weight and minimal Material costs, material cost. The geometry of ...

. The player scores points by using the letters to form words consisting of four or more letters. However, any words proposed by the player must include the letter at the center of the honeycomb. Each letter can be used more than once. Scoring points leads to progressively higher praise for the player's effort, such as "Solid", "Amazing", and "Genius". Each puzzle is guaranteed to have at least one

pangram A pangram or holoalphabetic sentence is a sentence using every letter of a given alphabet at least once. Pangrams have been used to display typefaces, test equipment, and develop skills in handwriting, calligraphy, and keyboarding. Origins The ...

, which awards the player the largest number of points when found. If the player finds all of the possible words in a given puzzle, they achieve the title of "Queen Bee".

Creation

Spelling Bee was created by Frank Longo following a proposal from

Will Shortz William F. Shortz (born August 26, 1952) is an American puzzle creator and editor and crossword puzzle editor for ''The New York Times''. Early life and education Will Shortz was born and raised on an Arabian horse farm in Crawfordsville, Indi ...

, who was inspired by the puzzle game Polygon from ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

''. The game launched in its print format in 2014 as a weekly feature in ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine Supplement (publishing), supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted man ...

''. The game's digital version debuted on May 9, 2018. The cartoon bee mascot, Beeatrice, was designed by Robert Vinluan for the digital version. As of August 2021, the game is maintained by Sam Ezersky, who is responsible for constructing the daily puzzles, which go live at 3 A.M., eastern, every day.

Reception

Since its online debut in 2018, Spelling Bee's popularity has grown and the game has received praise from other game makers in the media industry. Pat Myers of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''wrote that, despite being a lifelong promoter of ''The Washington Post'', she found herself in "the thrall of the ''New York Times'' Spelling Bee game". Nilanjana Roy of the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

''praised the game as one of the best ways to pass the time and connect with friends during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

lockdowns. Jim Memmot of the Rochester ''

Democrat and Chronicle The ''Democrat and Chronicle'' is a daily newspaper serving the greater Rochester, New York, area. At 245 East Main Street in downtown Rochester, the ''Democrat and Chronicle'' operates under the ownership of Gannett. The paper's production fa ...

'' similarly praised the game as a pleasant pastime during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to its reception among critics, the game has also spawned a significant following on social media, with players posting their scores and discussing each day's word selections on Twitter. Several online tools have been created to provide daily hints and analysis of the puzzle, among them one by science fiction author William Shunn.

Influence

The same concept was adapted to the

Catalan language Catalan (; autonym: , ), known in the Valencian Community and Carche as ''Valencian'' (autonym: ), is a Western Romance language. It is the official language of Andorra, and an official language of three autonomous communities in eastern Spa ...

by a non-profit in November 2021. The website, called ', went viral in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

a month after its launch.

References

External links

Spelling Bee
{{NY Times 2018 video games Browser games The New York Times Video games developed in the United States Word games Word puzzle video games